Old Hill bounced back into the thick of the Birmingham Division One promotion race with a vital win over Walmley.

The 37 run win put the Haden Hill side back in second place but level on points with leaders Berkswell, with Kenilworth Wardens just one point further back in third.

Wombourne, Brockhampton and Dorridge also cannot be discounted in what looks like being an enthralling final few weeks of the season and after a couple of poor results, skipper Nathan Round was delighted to get back to winning ways.

He said: “We had not played well the couple of weeks before on worn pitches and this was an important win for us.

“It’s looking like going down to the wire again this season and you just have to hope things fall your way.

“There are certain things you can’t control and it’s a case of going out there and giving it our best each week.”

Like many of their successes this season, the victory over Walmley was by no means straightforward and the result was in the balance throughout.

Batting first, Old Hill recovered after losing Mike Hingley for a duck and superb innings of 62 from Dan Wood, assisted by 49 from Round, appeared to have set them up for a big score.

But a sudden collapse from 201-5 saw them bowled out for 211 with four overs remaining.

Rain delays then twice saw Walmley’s winning target revised, eventually to 189 off 49 overs. Tim Gruijters hit 89 as the visitors edged closer to the target but his removal by Zafran Ali, coupled with a direct hit run out by Round, turned the tide.

Sharkey Hussain and Nigel Davenport mopped up the tail as Walmley were dismissed for 174.

Round added: “It was a good performance from us.

“Though it was disappointing to collapse to 211, it was still a good score on that pitch as it was seaming around a fair bit.

“It got very tense at the end and at one stage they seemed to be cruising it.

“But things just seemed to fall into place for us.”